


“In the midst of winter”

by pyxishan



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Christmas Holidays, Christmas market, Christmas market date, Fluff, Kissing, M/M, Skiing, Strangers to Lovers, bumping into a stranger, hand holding, kissing under a goddamn corny mistletoe, minho also hates snow, minho gay panic, minho hates winter, minho is whipped for hyunjin, ski accident, ski resort, this is so fluffy, winter holidays
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28267824
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyxishan/pseuds/pyxishan
Summary: When Minho fell on the slope while trying to ski on his winter vacation, he wouldn’t have expected to also fall for the handsome stranger he happened to crash into.
Relationships: Hwang Hyunjin/Lee Minho | Lee Know
Comments: 12
Kudos: 85





	“In the midst of winter”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello & happy holidays everyone! The idea for this short but fluffy Hyunho winter AU is from an anonymous CC, so thank you for that! It was supposed to be only a short drabble for twitter but … oh well here we are.
> 
> Here is the [Pinterest Board](https://www.pinterest.at/rejectedkitty/fanfics-prompts/in-the-midst-of-winter-hyunho-winter-au/) I made for this fanfic and also (for the extra effect), here is a [Spotify Playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/37i9dQZF1DXb7KOnsvmh8V?si=38g8GIO2TVGdP0DgiSfatw) with some more stripped down holiday tunes or a [Lofi Christmas Beats Mix](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpgO44UQuRc) on Youtube.
> 
> Grab some hot cocoa or any other warm drink that you like and I really hope you will enjoy this short cute story <3

> “There must be some definite cause why, whenever snow begins to fall, its initial formation invariably displays the shape of a six-cornered starlet. For it happens by chance, why do they not fall just as well with five corners or with seven? … Who carved the nucleus, before it fell, into six horns of ice?”

_From “On the Six-Cornered Snowflake”_

_by Johannes Kepler, 1610_

❄ 

Minho really, _really_ hates snow. 

He doesn’t understand why seemingly everyone he knows is obsessed with winter - specifically the time around Christmas and new year’s eve. Don’t get him wrong, he understands there can be something special about this time of the year for some people but still, he thinks all the corny decorations and in particular the cold weather are getting on his nerves. 

But Minho doesn’t want to upset his family, who - surprise - falls under the large percentage of the society that thinks the whole year revolves around Christmas day, so he still gets through it, trying to make the best out of the situation and to not get into a fight with his parents as a result of his grumpy mood. 

This year they are spending their winter holiday in a small ski resort in the alpine mountains, his family enjoying all the valleys and cozy little chalets covered in white powder while going down the ski slopes in the daytime. 

Minho doesn’t like snow but ironically he thinks occasionally skiing can be kinda fun - which certainly doesn’t mean he’s good at it.

Because just at this moment, Minho is standing on top of the mountain, looking downwards at the hill, regretting all his life choices and asking himself why he always chooses the most steeply slopes. 

He sighs, hoping not to fall and break all 206 bones in his body on the way down, back to the ski lift stations. 

“You ready?”, Seungmin next to him asks, with a grin. 

Him and Felix, his two best friends, always keep him company during his family holidays. While Seungmin is not afraid of anything and goes down all slopes with no hesitation, Felix always stays in the hotel because nobody could ever bring him up a mountain. Both knew that Minho wouldn’t survive the festivities without them, the chances are high that he would otherwise lose his mind with his relatives.

Minho takes hold of his ski sticks, trying not to show Seungmin how he is definitely _not_ ready but he has to go down the hill eventually sometime soon, if he wants or not. He inhales sharply, feeling the crispy cold alpine air scratching on the inside of his throat and how it freezes off the tip of his nose. 

“Yes, but you go first please.” Minho says with a glance at his best friend. Seungmin laughs, knowing very well that the elder always talks big when they are at the ski lift but turns tail as soon as they are on the mountain. 

The younger one pushes himself to the edge with his ski sticks, smirks at Minho one last time and then speeds down. Minho gulps, knowing now he _has_ to follow him, back to the downhill stations. Without any hesitation, he pushes himself forward and goes after his best friend.

Even though Minho isn’t the best at skiing and he knows that Seungmin always teases him about it, he still knows how to enjoy it. The feeling of cold air on his cheeks, the beautiful view of the landscape around him, the white hills and trees covered in powdery snow. 

_Maybe_ , Minho thinks, _winter isn’t that bad after all_.

Perhaps it’s fate that in this exact moment, he suddenly loses control over one of his skis due to the stick condition of the snow under his feet. He struggles to keep his balance, not noticing that he comes dangerously close to other skiers. And then- 

**_*boom*_ **

“Uff”, Minho blurts out as he hits something soft with speed. 

As he falls hard on his back and right shoulder, the air gets pressed out of his lungs. Noticing every bone in his body, he let his head sink down on the ground with a grunt, not wanting to get up anytime soon because everything hurts. 

Out of nowhere, a shadow covers his face, blocking the sunlight from blinding him. Despite the pain that feels like two rocks colliding in his head, he opens his lids, suddenly staring into the prettiest eyes he has ever seen. Not quite realising what is going on, still kind of in a delirium because of his overthrow, he keeps looking into the two brownish pools that are reminding him of liquid caramel.

“Are you okay? Should I help you?”, a voice sweet as honey says, coming from the shadow above him and bringing his senses back to reality. His head is foggy and he has to blink several times but he still manages to lift up his head, shifting his weight onto one shoulder while trying to ignore the stabbing pain in his back. 

“Wha- … What happened?”, he asks, more to himself than to the stranger kneeling next to him.

The latter tilts his head, sparkling eyes still staring at him with slight worry in them and Minho can’t explain why but a warm shiver runs down his spine. “I could ask you the same question speedy, you bumped into me at full pace.”, the man says and Minho wonders how someone's voice can be so … beautiful? It sounds like a melody in his ears.

The stranger beside him has put down the ski mask that covered his mouth and chin, so now Minho can see his whole face and _oh wow._ It is the most beautiful face Minho has ever seen, and he couldn’t help himself but _stare_ at it. Below perfect shaped eyebrows are honey brown eyes, surrounded by long lashes, sparkling as if they hold a whole galaxy inside of them and oh god, his lips … 

Suddenly Minho snaps back into reality, blinking several times, trying to get his fuzzy mind clearer. While realizing what the other one said, he promptly feels his cheeks getting hot and he must have turned red all over, hoping the other one didn’t catch him staring. He looks down at his hands, focusing on something else than the angel-like face of the man besides him.

“I-, I’m so sorry, I didn’t-”, he stutters, trying to swallow his embarrassment and feeling as his cheeks get redder with every passing second by every second passing. _Amazing impression, Lee Minho._

But then he hears small giggles, ringing like bells in his ears. He looks up just to see the stunning stranger - as Minho calls him in his head - smirking at him. 

“Don’t worry, nothing happened to me, I just played with you.”, the man says with a grin and holding his hand out. “Come on, I’ll help you up”. 

Minho takes his hand, again a little shudder runs down his whole body and the other one pulls him up on his feet with ease. Minho is very aware of the fact the other one keeps his hand on his shoulders to steady him, afraid that he might just faint and fall to the ground again.

“But you didn’t hurt yourself, or? Not that my body slammed you too hard”, the stranger chuckles but his eyebrows are furrowed with slight worry. Minho is trying _really_ hard to not let his eyes wander off to those amazingly beautiful lips again and focus on _what_ he is saying rather than the way the words come out of this beautiful mouth.

“Uhm yeah everything’s fine, just my shoulder hurts a bit but I will survive this.”, he mumbles. “Are you sure, you don’t need it to get amputated?” the other one responds, his sarcastic humor catching Minho off guard. 

His mind is not quite in the match yet so he only brings out a “I’m good thank you. Again sorry for bumping into you”, trying to gulp down his embarrassment and just wanting to get out of this situation. The man looks at him and Minho is almost certain that he can feel his slight gay panic, but the stranger only puts away his hands from his shoulders. 

“Don’t worry, it can happen to everyone. Maybe we will see each other again ... stranger”, he winks, a beautiful smile still painted on his face. 

He turns around and drives away, leaving behind a red-faced Minho, standing there in the middle of the slope, noticing how he didn’t even ask for the beautiful stranger’s name.

❄

“I already told you, I don’t know his name and I will probably never see him again anyway, so stop teasing me”, Minho says, giving his best friend a slap on his shoulder. Felix next to him grabs him by the arm. “But you can’t deny that you would love to see him again, Mr. Beautiful Stranger.”, he mocks him, wiggling his eyebrows. 

Minho shakes his head, but he smiles at the same time, taking a sip from his mulled wine. The hot drink, his favorite in this cold season, floats down his throat and warms him up from the inside.

Felix, Seungmin and Minho decided to go out this evening and they are visiting a cozy little christmas market in the small town, only ten minutes away from their resort. Since Felix doesn’t want to go skiing and stays mostly in the hotel during the day, they wanted to spend time together in the evening and maybe get a bit drunk. 

Gulping down his third mulled wine glass, Minho is already feeling a bit tipsy. He is happy to be out with his friends but his body is still aching a bit from the incident two days ago. Obviously he told his friends what happened, since Seungmin was worried as Minho didn’t come down the slope right after him. He also wanted to share his gay-panicked experience with Felix, who jumped on the story straight away, not stopping to tease him about the beautiful stranger since then. 

Minho can’t deny the fact that he wants to see the stranger again, with his goddamn beautiful brown eyes and those pretty lips that are literally made for kissing. But on the other hand he is very aware of how ridiculous his thoughts are, knowing he will never see this man again and that it was just a short encounter.

Trying to force the man from the slope out of his mind, he listens to his friend's conversation about a video game with one ear and while warming his hand at the steamy hot drink in his hands. 

He lets his gaze wander over all the little cabins that are decorated with fairy lights and christmas balls, covered in white snow. Minho can’t get rid of the thought that maybe he is overly harsh on everyone who loves this season with all the ornaments but still he thinks it’s just a bit ... too much. 

“Hello, stranger”, all of a sudden a sweet voice says behind Minho, which makes him nearly jump in the air. 

He can barely keep his cup of mulled wine in his hands so that it doesn’t spill everything over himself, while his cheeks are already getting warm out of his clumsiness. But as he turns around, to his surprise, he looks into a familiar face with two brown eyes, sparkling like they are holding a whole galaxy in them.

Now without the helmet, Minho can see his whole face and especially his _hair._ Blond locks are surrounding his face. He looks so ethereal, the blond reflecting the light from the lamp post above them. He never thought he would see the man from the slope again and as he strokes one strand of his hair behind his ear, Minho knows that this is the moment he is falling for this beautiful stranger in front of him.

Minho presses one hand on his chest, trying to get his beating heart under control. “Oh my god, you startled me”, he huffs, the cold air forming soft clouds in the air in front of his face. He hopes the other one doesn’t notice that his cheeks are all rose again or that he mistakes the redness for an effect of the cold weather.

Now as he is standing in front of him, Minho realizes how tall the other one is and that he almost has to look down at him when he speaks. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t on purpose.” He looks at Minho while tilting his head in the most elegant way. “I think I didn’t really introduce myself the last time we … met. I’m Hyunjin by the way.” 

Hyunjin. Minho doesn’t really know why but the name fits this angel standing there, looking absolute out of this world. “I- I’m Minho.”, he stutters, trying to keep his voice even. 

Hyunjin smiles at that. “Minho”, he says, stretching his name while he speaks, as if he wants to taste the name on his tongue. Minho can’t explain why but he likes the way this stranger says his name. “Now I have finally a pretty name to this pretty face.”, Hyunjin breathes out, making Minho’s heartbeat speeding up again.

He just can’t put it into words what effect Hyunjin has on him. The other one just seems too perfect to be real. Minho gulps down, not letting his mind slip away _again_ , knowing he has to respond with something.

“Can I invite you for a drink? Since I almost knocked you out on that slope the other day”, he says, pointing at the nearly empty cup in Hyunjin’s hands. The latter smirks. “I don’t know, it seemed more like you knocked yourself out up there.” _He got a point_ , Minho thinks.

“But you can only invite me for a drink if you walk a bit with me.”, the blond says bluntly. “What do you mean by walking with you?”, Minho answers confused. Hyunjin laughs and shakes his head. Again, Minho is asking himself how someone can be so entirely beautiful, even his laugh sounds like a melody straight from heaven. 

“What I mean with that is, that I would love you to keep me company while walking through this cheesy Christmas market. You know, talk a bit and get to know each other.”, Hyunjin says with a wink. 

Minho has to try _really_ hard not to let his chin fall open. He was already taken aback by the other one coming up to him and wanting to talk to him, but now he is even flirting with him? “Yeah sure, why not?”, he hears himself say, without even thinking about it. “Let me just tell my friends real quick.”

As he turns around to tell his friends that he will be joining them again later, he realizes that both of them were so absorbed in their conversation, that they didn’t even notice that Minho was talking to someone else. He tried to subtly tell them he found “Mr. Beautiful Stranger” - or did Hyunjin find him? - and that he will walk with him a bit while gripping Felix’s shoulder so the latter doesn’t freak out. Minho just knows his best friend will bombard him with questions later on. Both are wishing him fun and Felix even waves at Hyunjin with a grin, which is answered with a slap against his arm by Minho.

While walking through the Christmas market, Hyunjin and Minho are both asking each other questions and Minho is almost astonished, how easy Hyunjin is to talk to. There is never an awkward silence, only soft chuckles, smiles and just over all a comfortable atmosphere. 

They both realise that Hyunjin is not much younger than Minho, and that they are, as if the universe planned this, not living far from each other, Hyunjin also planning on attending the same university as Minho. But while the elder is currently majoring in dance, Hyunjin is more into languages. 

Once they reach another food stand, Minho insists on buying Hyunjin a drink as compensation for the accident on the ski slope. 

“I owe you that”, he says with a pout, trying to convince the younger one to let him pay for his drink. “You look cute when you make that face”, Hyunjin says straightforwardly. Again Minho is impressed on how effortlessly the other one flirts with him, with such a charm that it’s nearly unfair.

“Are your hands cold?” Hyunjin says suddenly, having an amazing talent of bringing Minho’s mind back from his thoughts. Without waiting for an answer, he takes the elder’s hands in his and rubs them together, trying to give off some warmth from his gloves to Minho’s bare hands. Of course he has forgotten his ones in the hotel room in the frenzy of getting ready, but since he was so concentrated on talking with Hyunjin, he didn’t realize how cold and red his hands already are from the freezing air. 

“Better?” Hyunjin aks. Minho nods and wants to get his hands out of Hyunjins grip but the younger one still holds them. “It will be cold again. Let me take care of it”, he says and intertwines their fingers together. He puts Minho's left hand together with his own in the pocket of his coat to keep them both warm. And Minho feels like his heart just melted. 

From time to time they stop by some different stands to look at the things in the shop windows or to laugh about how corny some of the ornaments are. But Minho understands more and more why so many people like the romantic and corny Christmas atmosphere so much, especially with this beautiful man walking next to him.

Minho glances over to him, trying to read his expression. The whole walk through the market he had to keep himself together so his eyes are not glued on that beautiful man next to him. But these were only rather … hopeless attempts and so, whenever Minho thought the other wouldn’t notice he just looked at him, absorbing every little detail he could recognize. The little mole under his right eye. The perfectly shaped eyebrows. Again these pretty full lips. 

Minho is sure that eventually he just must have started dreaming, not quite believing that this man next to him is in any way _real_. 

At one point they are so lost in their conversation about Minho’s pets, he talked about for the last half hour, that they are surprised as they reach the end of the christmas market. The exit is marked with a beautiful wooden archway and of course a stupid corny mistletoe hangs underneath. 

And then, as this beautiful stranger with his blonde locks looking like a angel sent to him straight from heaven, cups his face in his hands and kisses him under this exact mistletoe, feeling the other one’s taste on his tongue and leaving both breathless as they parted their lips for a second - maybe at this moment Minho thought that winter and snow isn’t _too_ bad.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading this fluffy winter fic! Comments and Kudos are really well appreciated and it would really make my day. <3
> 
> You can also come and scream with me about Minsung on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/pyxishan) or send me a [CC](https://curiouscat.me/pyxishan). Again, happy holidays and have a nice day!


End file.
